The Flock family of Fort Payne is perhaps the most adventurous family in Alabama history. Brothers Bob, Fonty, and Tim, were early stock-car-racing stars; sisters, Reo, a barnstormer, and Ethel, a driver, were also daredevils.
The family helped popularize what is now one of the fastest-growing spectator sports in the nation. The family’s daredevil streak began with father Carl Lee Flock, a cab driver born in Fort Payne in 1873. Carl Lee was a local celebrity who entertained the community as a bicycle racer, trick cyclist, and tightrope walker. He died in 1928, leaving his wife Maudie with eight children at the onset of the Great Depression—a ninth child, Charles, had died as an infant.
Photos courtesy of: the Flock Family
